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lochanreads's review
4.0
The Bi-ble is a richly diverse and very multi-facted collection of essays written by various bi individuals about their personal experiences. It was an extremely absorbing read that I breezed through within a couple of days because of how drawn I was to each perspective. This book is thorough in the way it explores the isolation and sense of erasure the bi community faces, particularly within the LGBTQ+ community, the very group that they should feel most at home in. I loved the insight this book gave me and the sense of intimacy it conveys in giving a much needed platform to the validity of bisexual voices.
ordinarilybi's review
4.0
This is obviously a bit harder to rate, since those are all personal essays with sometimes intimate looks into the authors' lives. So let me just say this: If you want to read about various experiences relating to bisexuality, then this is certainly the right book for you - regardless of whether you yourself are bisexual or not. Heck, not even all the voices collected here are bisexual! (The majority is, though.) But they all have once ID'd as such or feel otherwise connected to the struggles and joys of being bisexual.
As for who gets to tell part of their story: Afaik most authors are women with two male and two nonbinary authors (of twenty in total), most of them being cis as well. Three essays explicitly dicuss their experiences in relation to being BIPoC (one being Indian British and two being Black authors).
The editors have provided the following CNs: sexual assault, rape, self-harm, discussion of suicide.
Personally, I want to add occasional cissexist language, though this if fortunately not the norm and only applies to the 2017 edition. I don't know whether it has been revised in the 2019 edition.
As for who gets to tell part of their story: Afaik most authors are women with two male and two nonbinary authors (of twenty in total), most of them being cis as well. Three essays explicitly dicuss their experiences in relation to being BIPoC (one being Indian British and two being Black authors).
The editors have provided the following CNs: sexual assault, rape, self-harm, discussion of suicide.
Personally, I want to add occasional cissexist language, though this if fortunately not the norm and only applies to the 2017 edition. I don't know whether it has been revised in the 2019 edition.
sadie_slater's review
3.0
I first heard of Edinburgh-based feminist micropress Monstrous Regiment Publishing last autumn, when I listened to a podcast interview with the founders, Lauren Nickodemus and Ellen Desmond. They mentioned The Bi-ble, an anthology of essays about bisexuality they'd published, and as I was going through one of my frequent not-queer-enough how-can-I-be-bi-and-ace episodes of soul-searching I felt seen and comforted by the broad definition of bisexuality they used (no, you don't have to have slept with people of more than one gender, or any gender at all; even if you never have sex you can still be bi). When I saw on Twitter a few months ago that they had launched a Kickstarter to reprint the book and publish a second volume, I signed up to back them and received my copies of both books a few weeks ago.
There are 19 short essays in The Bi-ble, covering a diverse range of bisexual experience. There are male, female and non-binary authors; cis and trans authors; black, white and Asian authors; abled and disabled authors; authors who identify as bisexual, pansexual, or simply queer. I really liked the broad perspective this gave me; it makes it very hard to cling to the idea that there is One True Way to be bi. I particularly enjoyed reading Lisa-Marie Ferla's essay about the process that led her to choose to be open about her sexuality despite being in a straight-passing opposite-sex relationship; Sarah Barnard's account of being bi in fanworks fandom; and Mel Reeve's exploration of bisexual representation in LGBTQ+ history, but all of the essays were interesting. If I have one criticism, it's that the diversity of voices in the book doesn't seem to extend to age; as essay after essay referred to the authors using MySpace and MSN messenger to communicate with schoolfriends, and coming out at 15 in the mid-noughties, I began to feel very old from my vantage point of having left school when the internet was barely a gleam in Tim Berners-Lee's eye, at a time and in a place where being known to be anything other than straight might well have been literal suicide, not just social suicide. It would have been really nice to hear the voices of some people over the age of 40, and I really hope that the second volume, which I have yet to read, rectifies this.
There are 19 short essays in The Bi-ble, covering a diverse range of bisexual experience. There are male, female and non-binary authors; cis and trans authors; black, white and Asian authors; abled and disabled authors; authors who identify as bisexual, pansexual, or simply queer. I really liked the broad perspective this gave me; it makes it very hard to cling to the idea that there is One True Way to be bi. I particularly enjoyed reading Lisa-Marie Ferla's essay about the process that led her to choose to be open about her sexuality despite being in a straight-passing opposite-sex relationship; Sarah Barnard's account of being bi in fanworks fandom; and Mel Reeve's exploration of bisexual representation in LGBTQ+ history, but all of the essays were interesting. If I have one criticism, it's that the diversity of voices in the book doesn't seem to extend to age; as essay after essay referred to the authors using MySpace and MSN messenger to communicate with schoolfriends, and coming out at 15 in the mid-noughties, I began to feel very old from my vantage point of having left school when the internet was barely a gleam in Tim Berners-Lee's eye, at a time and in a place where being known to be anything other than straight might well have been literal suicide, not just social suicide. It would have been really nice to hear the voices of some people over the age of 40, and I really hope that the second volume, which I have yet to read, rectifies this.
chaoticlesbian's review against another edition
5.0
This book just made me feel seen on so many levels
dannispanni's review against another edition
5.0
Loved this! A must read for anyone who identifies as bisexual or future allies.
lucyhargrave's review against another edition
5.0
This is a truly wonderful selection of personal essays! Even though they focus on bisexuality it has a diverse range of voices exploring a plethora of issues and themes.
Some of them spoke to me more than others but all of them provided a fascinating insight into being a bi person in today's society. As a bi person myself it was refreshing to have some of my experiences put into words. Some of the essays covered the lighter side of being bisexual, for example the essay on fandom was wonderful and I completely agree with Remus Lupin being bisexual. Others highlighted how much work still needed to be done to tackle bierasure and biphobia, and how these can seriously impact bi peoples lives.
Highly HIGHLY recommend everyone read this collection of essays, whether you are bi, queer, trans, cis or straight!
Some of them spoke to me more than others but all of them provided a fascinating insight into being a bi person in today's society. As a bi person myself it was refreshing to have some of my experiences put into words. Some of the essays covered the lighter side of being bisexual, for example the essay on fandom was wonderful and I completely agree with Remus Lupin being bisexual. Others highlighted how much work still needed to be done to tackle bierasure and biphobia, and how these can seriously impact bi peoples lives.
Highly HIGHLY recommend everyone read this collection of essays, whether you are bi, queer, trans, cis or straight!
westerdrumlins's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
I found this such an accessible and engaging read on personal experiences under the umbrella of bisexuality. I especially loved Robert O'Sullivan's essay on being bi and non-binary, but all the essays were so thought-provoking.
One issue for me was the reference to JKR in Sarah Barnard's essay on looking for bisexual representation in media, which was particularly uncomfortable since it was immediately after a comic panel on being bi and trans. Similarly, there was a reference to Johnny Depp's alleged abuse towards Amber Heard in Laura Clay's essay (in exploring arguments that Heard's bisexuality has been suggested by the media as being a justification of such alleged abuse), but seemed to be a somewhat throw-away line. However, I believe my edition was published in 2019, meaning a lot of the events and nuance related to both of these were yet to happen/become widely publicised. While this is therefore not the fault of the writers/editors, I'd hope that future editions would address this.
Aside from this, I do think the essays presented a range of experiences and would highly recommend it.
Content warnings include:
Discussions of homophobia, biphobia, and xenophobia, sexual assault and rape, and self-harm and suicide.
One issue for me was the reference to JKR in Sarah Barnard's essay on looking for bisexual representation in media, which was particularly uncomfortable since it was immediately after a comic panel on being bi and trans. Similarly, there was a reference to Johnny Depp's alleged abuse towards Amber Heard in Laura Clay's essay (in exploring arguments that Heard's bisexuality has been suggested by the media as being a justification of such alleged abuse), but seemed to be a somewhat throw-away line. However, I believe my edition was published in 2019, meaning a lot of the events and nuance related to both of these were yet to happen/become widely publicised. While this is therefore not the fault of the writers/editors, I'd hope that future editions would address this.
Aside from this, I do think the essays presented a range of experiences and would highly recommend it.
Content warnings include: